AlD—ljmicaster Farming, Saturday, May 17,1980
Lancaster Farming says... /
A year ago hogs were selling for 56
cents and pork chops m the
supermarket were going for $1.89.
Today, hogs are selling for 32 cents
and pork chops still are going for
$1.89. What’s the story?
It works the same for butter or
beef, walnuts or wheat. A year ago,
bakers tried to use slightly higher
farjn wheat prices as an excuse to
predict dollar-a-loaf bread.
The reason for the topsy-turvy
pricing situation is the law of supply
and demand is vetoed for
agriculture, says David A. Witts.
Witts is a ranpher and attorney who
has written a book called The Power
of Parity. He argues that 100 percent
parity is vital to assure the nation is
fed and clothed properly.
He points out that if supply ex
ceeds demand, prices should dro;.
So if the producer gets less, then tht
consumer should pay less.
But any consumer will tell you
FOR EVER AND EVER!
Lesson for May 18, 1980
Background Scripture:
Revelation 4 through 5;
7:9-14.
Devotional Reading:
Psalms 24
To Note Stage of Maturity
This is the time of the year
alien various forage crops
are cut for silage or for hay.
In many cases the real feed
value depends upon the
maturity of the crop when
cut. If small grams such as
winter wheat or barley are to
be made into silage, it is
suggested they be harvested
in the blossom stage; this
will usually be several days
after beading out.
At this time of the year
both alfalfa and red clover
RURAL ROUTE
Why supply-demand doesn h work
I cannot read or hear read
these words without hearing
simultaneously in my mind
the stirring music of Han
del’s “Messiah”:
“Worthy is the Lamb who
was slain, To receive power
and wealth and wisdom. And
might and honor and glory
and blessing'.” (5:12).
“Blessing and glory and
wisdom, thanksgiving and
honor and power and might
be to our God, For ever and
ever! Amen.” (7:12)'.
Even reading them to
myself, the enthusiasm and
ecstacy are mfectuous. The
writer of Revelation has
caught perfectly the
dynamics of true worship.
should be cut in the bud to
early blossom stage. All of
the grasses are at their peak
of feeding value when
harvested in the heading
stage; do not permit the
grasses to head out and get
into the blossom stage. If
growers will make an effort
to cut these forage crops at
the suggested stage of
maturity, maximum feeding
nutrients will be resent. We
realize that in .aany cases
the weather conditions will
be a factor in determining
that’s not the way it is. Often the
farmer is blamed.
Everyone in the food pipeline,
except the farmer, tacks on costs and
profit, not earned by productiyity but
resulting from inflation, taxes,
wages, union dues, government
regulations, and environmental blue
laws, he says.
While it’s not true that the
processors add nothing, it’s hard to
accept the fact that the wrapper on a
loaf of bread costs more than the
wheat.
Witts points out General Motors
has one middleman between
producer and consumer, utilities
have none. The food chain is loaded
with middlemen.
As if the scales weren't tipped
enough by a chain of middlemen
wearing cost-plus uniforms, and by
regulations which add to the cost but
not the calories, the farmer is
stopped short of his profit goal by the
I Was In The Spirit
If our own experience of
worship - either private or
corporate - is not much like
what the writer of
Revelation describes,
maybe it is because there is
an important dimension
missing. Actually, this book
focuses attention on two
different dimensions. The
first of these is the dimen
sion of the'present. In the
early chapters, the letters to
the seven churches, we were
brought face to face with the
present as it existed when
this book was written. The
“present” was what the
writer of the epistles saw in
each of the churches: im
rs
harvest time.
To Consider Livestock
Comfort
The hot weather season is
approaching. When we get
both high temperatures and
high' humidity, livestock
suffer similar to human
beings. In the case of fat
tening animals that are
nearing market finish, this
stress can be very severe. I
suggest that maximuiq
ventilation of the building be
used. All windows and doors
should be open to get cross
ventilation.
In some cases fans may be
used to move the air over the
animals. Some hog finishing
bams are equipped with
water sprinklers, or fogging
giant government goal tender.
Rather than help farmers, the
government goalie adheres to a
political game plan: either dump
surpluses on the market to force
prices down; or, open the flood gates
to foreign imports.
This Alice-m-Wonderland market
does not set the value of a com
modity by its supply and demand, but
by consumer interest groups and
their congressmen.
While industrial productivity has
increased at an average of one
percent per year, wages have in
creased at an average eight percent
per year.
Agricultural productivity has gone
up four times faster than industrial
output, but farm income actually has
declined.
It remains beyond the un
derstanding of most agricultural
observers why the farm factory is not
proQ^ly* recognized for what it
idolatry, false teachings,
wrong leadership, the loss of
love and lukewarm in
difference. Each of these
assessments of the present
was sobering.
I think that dimension - of
present woes - is very much
with us in the sanctuary of
our church or our private
worship. We are aware of it
all: political corruption,
wars and rumors of wars,
injustice, torture, star
vation, corruption, tyranny,
illness, crime decay and
hatred. We can hardly avoid
carrying the screaming
headlines of our Sunday
morning newspaper along
devices, that keep the floor
and the hogs wet during peak
hours of heat and humidity.
Animals that are outside
should have free access to
both shade and water. Some
attention to the comfort of
the animals will reduce
stress and possibly some
losses.
To Spray Tobacco Beds
The effort should be to
prevent blue mold in our
tobacco beds, rather than to
try and cure the infection
after it is present. Last year
many growers had severe
losses because the infection
was earned from the beds
into the field. We are told
that blue mold is already
present in several of our
By Tom Armstrong
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BY CURT HARLER, EDITOR |
mto the church sanctuary.
Who Are These?
But there is another
dimension that must be
viewed side-by-side with the
daily headlines, and that is
the dimension of “for ever
and ever”. Yes, the Soviet
Union intrigues against the
future of humanity. But
also: “Blessing, and honor
and glory and might” be to
the Lamb “for ever and
ever.” Yes, the candidates
are lying again. But
“Worthy is the Lamb who
was slam, to receive power
and wealth and wisdom and
might and honor and glory
and blessing! Yes, my next
door neighbor died last mght
southern states. This means
that we could have another
senous infection.
We recommend the beds
be sprayed weekly with
Ferbam (black wettable
powder) for the first 3 to 4
weeks; then best control will
be experienced by changing
to Maneb instead of the
Ferbam. If the plants m the
beds can be <kept free of the
infection, then we should
have little trouble in the
fields. Additional in
formation is available from
our County Extension Office,
Lancaster, (394-6851). Keep
in mind that old saying,
“Prevention is much easier
than the cure”.
To Control Fly Population
With the amount of recent
rainfall, no doubt the fly
population is increasing on
many farms. The best place
to start on a fly reduction
program is to enforce good
sanitation. Clean up the
premises and keep them
clean at all times When this
is the case, there will be less
breeding places for the flies
Fly sprays and baits can
be used to supplement good
sanitation, if needed. There
are many fly insecticides
available that will kill flies,
but materials to use vary
£3
4*,
contributes to the economy.
The most telling point in the
supply-demand argument is the ratio
365 to 1. When the farmer’s product
is ready to market, there is a year’s
worth of supply but only a single
day’s demand.
Farmers, recognizing this, have
dotted the countryside with gram
storage bins. But it’s impossible to
store a bulk tank of Class I milk or
keep a fat steer around for too long
and still be able to market it.
Perhaps, as Witts says, the rules
have been changed. Supply and
demand, long the darling of free
market economists, is being
smothered by intervention on all
sides.
The answer, then, would seem to
be a united farmer front, a con
tinuing struggle for 100 percent
parity on the value of their product,
and the government’s blessing to sell
at true market worth.
of cancer, but Ukthe per
spective of “folrever and
ever”, I will worship God
befoe his throne.
In John’s vision there was
a group of people m white
robes. One of the elders
demanded, “Who are
these....and whence have
they come?” And the an
swer! “These are they who
have come out of the great f
tribulation; they -have
washed their' robes and
made them white in the
blood of the Lamb” (7:14).
They are those who have
viewed the present from the
perspective of “for ever and
ever” and never cease to
worship the Lamb of God.
according to the place to be
treated. Care should be used
to prevent residues that will
contaminate feed and water.
Bams and pens should be
cleaned frequently to
prevent fly maggot
development. Materials
such as Malathion or Rabon
can be sprayed over manure
to prevent fly reproduction.
Clean premises and good
sanitation practices are the
places to start with a fly
control program.
Calendar
Saturday, May 17
Sheep field day and lamb
sale; 10 a.m.; York Co. 4-
H Center.
Berks Goatherders meet at
Triple Creek Farm; 10:30
a.m.
State Chicken Cook-off at
Northern Lebanon High
School. m
MD State Grange Style
Review; noon; Bethel
Presbyterian Church, '
Madonna, MD.
Old Fashioned Town
Meeting; 9:30 a.m.;
ELCO Middle School.
(Turn to Page A 32)
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